Enoteca Fuori Porta — Restaurant in Florence

My family and I were utterly disappointed with our experience at this restaurant. It was recommended to us by the staff at the hotel we were staying.

First, they kept us waiting for a long time before even giving us menus, while they served others who were seated after us. Then they brought olive oil but forgot to bring the accompanying bread. Then it went downhill from there.

Second, we ordered 6 entrées. Spaghetti, fish, and two plates of Tagliolini fatti in casa con pesto. The Tagliolini was not edible, it was bland, smelled bad and tasted like it was missing ingredients. We couldn’t eat it, even after trying to add salt, pepper and cheese to improve the taste.

Third, we complained about the Tagliolini, and the waitress essentially shrugged her shoulders. There was no attempt to make the situation right, offer something else or not to charge us for what was clearly still 2 full plates of inedible Tagliolini.

While the starters (bruschetta and crostini), and the spaghetti and the cod entrees were okay (at least edible), the overall experience of poor service and bad food left a very bad taste...

TLDR: Took 75 minutes to get served, with zero apology or compensation. Slowest service we've had in all of Italy. No check-ins, no updates, and only got our food after complaining. They lost out on extra sales as we didn’t bother ordering more wine or dessert due to the wait. Worst service we’ve had in Italy so far, and we’ll be leaving 1-star reviews.

We arrived and it took 15 minutes just to be asked for our order. We ordered two wines by the glass, a bruschetta, steak, and pasta. The bruschetta took 20 minutes to arrive—it was just a single piece of toast with tomatoes. The main course didn’t come out until 45 minutes after that, and only after I asked the waitress what was happening.

No check-ins, no updates, nothing. Once I complained, the food arrived within 5 minutes, which is funny since it doesn’t take long to make medium-rare steak or pasta (I used to work in an Italian restaurant). The Americans next to us also commented on the bad service.

They charged us for coperta but didn’t bring bread until our meal arrived. We had planned to try more wine and dessert since it’s an enoteca, but the slow service put us off. So, they missed out on extra sales and now have two 1-star reviews from us on Google and TripAdvisor.

Zero apology was given, not even in Italian.

FYI, we understand things move slower in Italy, and we’ve experienced that all over the country, but this was exceptionally slow. We've been to 7 different cities and over 30 restaurants on this trip, and this was by far the worst service.

TLDR: Ci sono voluti 75 minuti per essere serviti, senza nessuna scusa o compensazione. Il servizio più lento che abbiamo avuto in tutta Italia. Nessun controllo, nessun aggiornamento, e abbiamo ricevuto il cibo solo dopo aver fatto un reclamo. Hanno perso ulteriori vendite perché non abbiamo ordinato più vino né dessert a causa dell’attesa. Il peggior servizio che abbiamo avuto in Italia finora, e lasceremo recensioni a 1 stella sia su Google che su TripAdvisor.

Siamo arrivati e ci sono voluti 15 minuti solo per prendere il nostro ordine. Abbiamo ordinato due bicchieri di vino, una bruschetta, una bistecca e della pasta. La bruschetta è arrivata dopo 20 minuti—solo una singola fetta di pane con pomodori. Il piatto principale non è arrivato fino a 45 minuti dopo la bruschetta, e solo dopo aver chiesto alla cameriera cosa stesse succedendo.

Nessun controllo, nessun aggiornamento, niente. Una volta che mi sono lamentato, il cibo è arrivato in 5 minuti, il che è curioso dato che non ci vuole molto per fare una bistecca al sangue o della pasta (ho lavorato in un ristorante italiano). Anche gli americani accanto a noi hanno commentato il cattivo servizio.

Ci hanno addebitato il coperto ma non ci hanno portato il pane fino all'arrivo del pasto. Avevamo intenzione di provare altri vini e il dessert dato che è un’enoteca, ma il servizio così lento ci ha scoraggiato. Quindi, hanno perso ulteriori guadagni e ora avranno due recensioni a 1 stella da parte nostra su Google e TripAdvisor.

Nessuna scusa ci è stata data, nemmeno in italiano.

Per chiarezza, sappiamo che in Italia i tempi sono più lenti e lo abbiamo sperimentato in tutto il paese, ma questo era eccezionalmente lento. Siamo stati in 7 città diverse e in oltre 30 ristoranti durante questo viaggio, e questo è stato di gran lunga il...

Fuori Porta offers simple Tuscan dishes for a small price

N43°45.812' E11°15.709' Fuori Porta has a nice terrace with a beautiful view of the old town gate of San Niccolo on the south side of the river Arno. This side of the river is much less touristy and a good place to meet locals. Fuori Porta is known for its simple Tuscan dishes. The restaurant inside is a bit small, but very authentic.

In June 2019, we ordered spinach salad with pecorino cheese, crispy bacon and walnuts (€8), strozzapreti with pesto alla genovese and confit tomatoes (€10) and umbrine with Jerusalem artichokes and peas sauce (€16). Not expensive.

Outside the control of the restaurant, two couples with newborn babies ate in the restaurant. Both babies were really upset and screamed. Any attempt to silence the babies, except brute force, failed. The parents panicked and the babies reacted accordingly. We could not move to another table and this prevented us from enjoying the dishes. All dishes tasted good, but failing setting/location cannot be compensated by good service and food. Next time, we turn on our baby...